Dorrington, CA…The County of Calaveras Department of Public Works has received many calls from residents and business owners in recent months inquiring about leaving vegetation debris from private property in the County right of way for disposal. While Public Works empathizes with local residents attempting to clean up their private properties, removing vegetation debris from private property and placing it in the public right of way for Public Works road maintenance crews to remove is unlawful.

In an effort to educate local residents and property owners about this activity, Public Works has been issuing courtesy notices providing additional information on these concerns along with valuable information on how to legally removal vegetation debris. Instead of a courtesy notice however, a “correction notice” was incorrectly issued to approximately 75 Dorrington property owners. The incorrect notices identified these properties as illegally dumping debris in the public right of way. Many of these Dorrington property owners were not responsible for debris in the public right of way, creating some confusion and frustration.

In response to this error, Public Works is issuing apology letters and updated courtesy notices to all affected property owners starting tomorrow, May 28th.

Public Works deeply regrets any inconvenience that these letters may have caused for Dorrington property owners. Despite this error, Public Works still strongly encourages property owners to avoid placing debris in the public right of way and remove any debris illegally placed along public roads and other public properties. Property owners looking for assistance to remove this debris may contact private contractors, and debris can also be hauled to the County’s Landfill or various Transfer Station locations. For more information on the transfer stations accepting debris, please call (209) 754-6403.

Please contact Public Works at (209) 754-6402 with any questions.